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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Dunk Leaders for 1996-97

This is just a data dump as I continue to work on my big project. I haven't been posting a lot lately because I've been trying to corral the 1997 play-by-play data. Right now I'm working out the kinks, but I'm close to the finish line.

The play-by-play data isn't entirely detailed, but the advantage is that you can compile non-traditional stats like dunks. There are actually three categories of dunks: dunk, slam dunk, and driving dunk. I'm not clear on what the distinction is between dunk and slam dunk (one is more powerful ... ?), but a driving dunk is distinct and more highlight worthy than a simple and open two-hand dunk under the basket. I imagine when people check these dunk lists they're thinking of the high-flyers, not big men who live near the rim.

Without further ado, the top dunkers list of 1996-97:

Rank

Name

Made dunks

Attempted dunks

Dunk %

Dunks/

40 mins

1

Chris Webber

177

182

97.3

2.52

2

Shawn Kemp

166

181

91.7

2.41

3

Shaquille O'Neal

157

161

97.5

3.24

4

Dikembo Mutombo

146

151

96.7

1.96

5

Alonzo Mourning

131

134

97.8

2.26

6

Marcus Camby

127

142

89.4

2.68

7

Otis Thorpe

125

135

92.6

1.88

8

Rasheed Wallace

118

132

89.4

2.49

9

Jerry Stackhouse

115

118

97.4

1.45

10

Antonio McDyess

115

135

85.2

1.79

11

Dale Davis

114

117

97.4

1.71

12

Vin Baker

109

112

97.3

1.38

13

Kevin Garnett

98

105

93.3

1.31

14

Rony Seikaly

90

95

94.7

1.38

15

Patrick Ewing

87

87

100.0

1.21

*The data only counts the regular season

It's surprising to see Webber number one, given that his game seems more ground-bound, but a lot of that is a clouded perception from his post-injury seasons of the mid-00's. Shaq and Kemp are two worthy dunks, and the rest of the list is packed with big men. But I'd give the undisputed top total dunker title to Shaq for his absurd dunks per minute. No one else was close (there were a few guys in the 2 to 2.5 range in dunks per 40 mins not listed.) Shaq also completed a high percentage of his dunks, and only ranks third in total dunks because of significant missed time.

Top dunkers ranked by total driving dunks:

Rank

Name

Made dunks

Attempted dunks

Driving dunk /tot.
dunks

Dunks/

40 mins

1

Chris Webber

33

33

18.6

0.47

2

Grant Hill

24

24

35.3

0.31

3

Glen Rice

24

24

28.9

0.29

4

Antoine Walker

23

24

29.9

0.31

5

Juwan Howard

21

21

27.6

0.25

6

Jerry Stackhouse

21

21

18.3

0.27

7

Vlade Divac

20

20

34.5

0.28

8

Rodney Rogers

20

20

29.9

0.32

9

Marcus Camby

19

19

15.0

0.40

10

Shareef Abdur-Rahim

19

20

22.4

0.27

11

Doug Christie

18

18

31.6

0.23

12

Bo Outlaw

17

17

22.7

0.31

13

Patrick Ewing

14

14

16.1

0.19

14

Mario Elie

13

14

33.3

0.19

15

Derrick Coleman

13

13

18.1

0.25

This is for driving dunks, which are distinct from the other two types (dunk and slam dunk.) Webber is the clear winner here. In the 90's, he was sensational in transition, and he probably got a lot of these dunks starting from the high post where he logged a lot of time. He even beats everyone with dunks per minute, and no highflying guard is close. Oddly enough, the seven-foot Divac also has a lot of driving dunks, but like Webber I imagine a lot of those originate from high post plays. And Camby ranking so high, especially on dunks per minute, suggests that centers who can handle the ball dunk a lot in traffic (not exactly the most amazing discovery in basketball, however.)

And where's Jordan? He's ranked near 60th and he had 10 driving dunks with 49 total, despite 3106 minutes. It's good for a guard, but guys like Christie and Gary Trent are in his range. Second threepeat played closer to the ground and used his midrange game to punish opponents. NBA.com lists him with 1202 midrange shots at an elite 48.9 conversion percentage -- I didn't check, but that appears to be the highest volume of midrange shots in the database (at least that I've seen, and that includes guys like Kobe and Dirk.) Dunks are fun to talk about, but obviously there's more to the game.

And for fun, here's a list of all players without a dunk and at least 1000 minutes played: